The Hunt
by fadingtales
Summary: The day after the full moon Caroline Forbes unexpectedly finds a rather naked Original hybrid asleep on her doorstep. Klaus/Caroline. Oneshot.


**Title**: The Hunt

**Author**: fadingtales

**Fandom**: The Vampire Diaries

**Rating**: PG-13

**Ship**: Klaus/Caroline

**Summary**: The day after the full moon Caroline Forbes unexpectedly finds a rather naked Original hybrid asleep on her doorstep.

**A/N**: Inspired by and dedicated to denburys, whose original idea sparked this oneshot.

Even in the darkest moments when he was so completely the wolf and not himself images of her would still flash through his mind. Even in the depths of all the darkness and savageness, even as he was completely consumed with that singular intent of the hunt, there was her. Like a beacon of light through the wolf's red tinted vision. Reminding him why he was out there.

And so it was through thoughts of her that he found the will inside of himself to keep from breaking through the windows, from battering down the doors, from ripping and tearing and shredding like the animal inside of him so desperately wants to. Despite how much his instinct screamed at him that it was blood and flesh he lusted for, he'd think of her and regain his focus.

Come morning he finds himself, battered, dirty and exhausted, collapsed on her doorstep. His bare body smeared with dirt from the night's excursions. He's starting to realize why the werewolves saw the full moon as a curse. His body was sore and there was a nagging ache in his very bones that he couldn't shake off.

She nearly trips over him when she wakes in the morning, stumbling over his naked body as she goes for the morning paper. Because even if he knew he should stay away lest he harmed her by accident, even in his barely conscious werewolf state his feet still led him to her. His yearning to be near her drew him like a magnet to her door. And as the moon waxed and waned and his hunt came to naught, he had crawled up onto her house's porch and fallen asleep to the sounds of her steady breathing inside the house.

She's not pleased to see him, a frown marring her usually smiling face. She takes in his state of undress and walks back inside the house. He had been sure she would slam the door in his face only to be startled when she comes back out with a blanket bundled up in her arms.

She hands it to him silently, carefully avoiding eye contact should her eyes accidently wander somewhere inappropriate. She crosses her arms tightly over her chest, her eyes still averted, as he wraps the blanket around his waist.

"You can't keep doing this," she says finally, allowing herself to look at him now that he was decently covered.

He looks up at her, finally noticing that there was concern in that scowl of hers.

"Would you rather I stopped?" he asks. "Tyler is still out there."

He can see the storm behind her eyes then. How she was at war with herself. Torn between blaming him for what had happened to the Lockwood boy and what he was doing now to make up for it, going out every full moon in search of the wayward werewolf.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks. Her voice is barely above a whisper.

"Because I can't have you pining over the ghost of what used to be. So I will bring Tyler back, free him from his sire bondage to me and let him have his chance to win you back. And maybe then you'd be able to realize..."

His voice trails off and her frown deepens.

"Realize what?" she presses when he doesn't continue.

He steps forward so that their eyes could meet and he raises his hand to brush back a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering against her skin for a beat too long. She shivers and tells herself it's the chilly morning air instead of his touch.

"Realize that maybe I am more than just the beast you make me out to be."

She opens her mouth as if to retort, but closes it without uttering a single word. She neither confirms nor rebukes his statement about her prejudices regarding him.

"Or maybe you'll realize you _like_ the beast," he says with a grin that was decidedly wolfish.

She slaps his hand away, huffs and this time she really does slam the door in his face. He sighs and readjusts the blanket she gave him to cover himself with. It'll be rather humiliating to go back home in nothing more than a blanket scantily wrapped around his midsection, but when he catches her watching him from her bedroom window a smirk forms on his face.

He catches her eye, and then he carefully undoes the knot around his waist, letting the plaid fleece cloth that had been his only cover fall to the ground. He gives her a wink before turning to walk in the direction of his house.

He might be willing to go find Tyler, but it didn't mean he had to play fair. The least he could do was give her a glimpse of what she was missing out on. There is more than one way to hunt. Sometimes you have to entice your prey.

The next time the full moon rolls around, he'll find his feet taking him right back to the Forbes's front porch.


End file.
